Saturday, February 1, 2014

UPDATE SATURDAY AM: On Thursday, Bobby Bones tweeted that he was considering another job offer outside of radio. At the time, he indicated he'd announce his decision Monday. However a day later, on Friday, the host of The Bobby Bones Show let listeners know that he’s staying with CCM+E's WSIX in Nashvillle and would continue his syndicated morning show.

When Bones sent his original tweet, his email, phone and social media accounts blew up. Listeners didn’t want him to leave, some thought it was all a hoax or ratings stunt, others were concerned about his crew losing their jobs.

By Friday, Bones had recorded a video, which was uploaded to YouTube. In the video, Bones explains that he flew to Los Angeles Friday morning to discuss the other job offer, which was in television, but after much consideration he has decided to stay with The Bobby Bones Show.

He stated that there is much more coming up with the iHeart festival and though he didn’t elaborate, other tv options as well.

WSIX 97.9 FM (100Kw) 60dBu Coverage

UPDATE 8PM FRIDAY: Bobby Bones has confirmed that his opportunity "outside" of radio was an offer to do TV. However, Bones says he's decided to stay in radio...

Earlier posting....

The WSIX 97.9 FM The Big 98 and syndicated morning personality posted the following on his Facebook Page during the night and promisses a 'decision' by Noon Monday 2/3. No mention of anything on Bobby Bones official website.

The Bobby Bones Show is now on over 60 stations and CCM+E has him slated to host its first iHeartRadio Country music Festival in Austin. Bones says he'll make the announcement on WSIX in Nashville on Monday

for those asking, Ill be taking all my friends with me! the whole crew will have new jobs. relax. my show mates are my BFFs. all good
— Bobby Bones (@mrBobbyBones) January 31, 2014

Stern started August 30, 1982 on 66 WNNNNNNNBC, NYC. Audio starts with some interaction with Traffic Reporter Roz Frank.

While at Boston University, he worked at the campus station WTBU before a brief stint at WNTN in Newton, Massachusetts. He developed his on-air personality when he landed positions at WRNW in Briarcliff Manor, WCCC in Hartford, Connecticut, and WWWW in Detroit, Michigan.

In 1981 he paired with his current newscaster and co-host Robin Quivers at WWDC in Washington, D.C., before working afternoons at WNBC in New York City in 1982 until his sudden firing in 1985.

He reemerged on WXRK that year, and became one of the country's most popular radio personalities during his 20-year tenure at the station.

He became the most-fined radio host after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued fines totaling $2.5 million to station licensees for content it considered to be indecent.

Stern won Billboard’s "Nationally Syndicated Air Personality of the Year" award eight times, and is one of the highest-paid figures in radio after signing a deal with Sirius worth $500 million in 2004.

In 1941…WOR 710 AM officially moves to New York City from
Newark, NJ. WOR began broadcasting on February 22, 1922, using a 500-watt transmitter on 360 meters (833 kc.) from Bamberger's Department Store in Newark, New Jersey. Louis Bamberger's sale of radio sets to consumers explained their affiliation with the station. The WOR call sign was reissued from the U.S. maritime radio service. The station initially operated limited hours, sharing time with two other stations, WDT and WJY, which also operated on 833 kc. WOR changed frequency to 740 kc. in June 1923 and shared time with WJY until July 1926, when WJY signed off for good and WOR received full use of the frequency. In December 1924, WOR acquired a studio in Manhattan. On June 17, 1927, WOR moved to 710 kc., the channel it currently occupies. Later in 1926, WOR moved from its New York City studio on the 9th floor of Chickering Hall at 27 West 57th Street to 1440 Broadway, two blocks from Times Square.

In 1942…Shortly after U.S. entry into World War II, Voice of America began broadcasting programs aimed at territory controlled by Axis powers. This first live broadcast to Germany began with a recording of "The Battle Hymn Of The Republic," followed by the pledge, "Today and every day from now on, we will be with you from America to talk about the war … The news may be good or bad for us. We will always tell you the truth."

In 1964…The governor of Indiana declared the hit song
"Louie Louie", by the Kingsmen, to be pornographic. He asked the
state's radio stations not to air the song.

In 1986....KHJ-AM in Los Angeles CA changes call letters to KRTH. On the evening of January 31, 1986, regular evening jock Dave Sebastian Williams was joined in studio by Robert W. Morgan. Many disc jockeys from throughout KHJ's heyday of Boss Radio phoned in (including M.G. Kelly, Bobby Ocean, Jimmy Rabbitt, and Boss Radio-era Program Director Ron Jacobs) for a farewell broadcast, playing the songs that had made KHJ a popular AM station in the 1960s and 1970s. At the stroke of midnight, the station changed its call letters to KRTH to match those of its FM sister station, KRTH-FM playing a format called "Smokin' Oldies" that featured hits of the first ten years of rock and roll. The station used "AM 930" as its on-air ID.

RKO General was under nearly continuous investigation by federal regulators from the 1960s onward due to unethical conduct at its television stations, including KRTH-AM/FM's television sister, KHJ-TV (channel 9, now KCAL-TV). It was eventually ruled unfit to be a broadcast licensee and forced by the FCC to sell off its broadcast properties.

In the summer of 1989, KRTH AM/FM were sold to Beasley Broadcasting, which immediately turned around and sold KRTH-AM to Liberman Broadcasting. It became a full-time Spanish-language station, adopting the call letters KKHJ in honor of its historic calls.

As time went by, program director Alfredo Rodriguez and chief engineer Jerry Lewine wanted to bring back the legendary three-letter call sign. However, the FCC hadn't issued three-letter calls to radio stations since the 1930s. So they came up with a plan to convince the FCC that KKHJ could not use the Spanish pronunciation of its call letters on the air. This was purportedly because the pronunciation of the first two letters in Spanish (kah-kah), the Spanish vulgar slang word for feces.

As a result, whenever the call letters were used, they were pronounced in English. This proved somewhat awkward over a decade, so the station collected letters from listeners and community listeners and lobbied the FCC to allow the station to drop one of its Ks. The FCC allowed the station to return to its original calls, KHJ. The change became official on March 15, 2000.

In 1989…WEVD switches from 97.9 FM to 1050 AM

In 1994…Olan Soule died of lung cancer at age 83. He was a
radio voice in the series, "Super Friends".

In 2004...Janet Jackson's breast was exposed during the half-time show of Super Bowl XXXVIII, resulting in US broadcasters adopting a stronger adherence to FCC censorship guidelines.

In 2013…Three-term mayor of New York City (1978-1989)/author/movie reviewer/ radio talk show host/commercial pitchman/TV judge (The People's Court) Ed Koch died of congestive heart failure at age 88

Friday, January 31, 2014

A newcomer to Wing Bowl, Molly Schuyler wasn’t fazed by anything. The only thing that bothered the tattooed Midwest mother of four was the chill that coursed through the back corridors of the Wells Fargo Center Friday morning, according to Sports WIP 94.1 FM.

Otherwise, Schuyler treated Wing Bowl 22 like any other eating contest she’s devoured, vanquishing the field, which included NFL players, bodybuilders and former Wing Bowl champions.

Schuyler ripped through a Wing Bowl-record 363 wings, smashing the previous mark of 337 held by international eating star Takeru Kobayashi at Wing Bowl 20, in 2012.

Pat Bertoletti finished second with 356, Wing Bowl 21 champ Jamie “The Bear” McDonald took third with 304 and Jon “Super” Squibb came in fourth with 252, winning the local eater level.

No one had a shot at Schuyler. She polished off 186 wings in the 14-minute first round, was just three shy of Kobayashi’s mark after the second 14-minute round and ate another 29 wings in the final two-minute speed round leaving everyone in her wake.

CBS Photos

Schuyler became the second woman to win Wing Bowl, joining Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas, who won Wing Bowl 12 in 2004 with 167 wings.

“To tell you the truth, I didn’t even think I was going to win this, I was looking and hoping to finish in the top three,” said Schuyler, who was going to catch a flight to Des Moines, Iowa Friday afternoon to compete in the IHOP Pancake Bowl I Saturday, then attempt to defend her title later Saturday afternoon at the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival.

To call Schuyler an eating machine wouldn’t be just. How she rowed through the food was astounding. She chewed through the wings like mowing down corn on the cob.

XEPRS 1090 AM, better known as The
Mighty 1090, has announced veteran sports talker Dan Sileo has joined
the station.

Sileo starts morning 6a to 9a Monday.

Sileo began his his sport media career
in 1994 with the One-On-One Sports Network. The former pro football
player counts stops at KGO and KNBR in SF, WQTM and WFLF in Orlando,
WDAE in Tampa and WQAM Miami.

Mike Shephard, Programming-Operations
Manager at The Mighty 1090 stated, “I am thrilled to welcome Dan to
San Diego's Sports Leader. Dan is passionate, outspoken, engaging
and an incredibly knowledgeable sports radio personality. His track
record of major market success is remarkable and Dan is a perfect
addition to the Mighty 1090's top-rated, all-start lineup."

According to Zack Owen, “I’ve been given a tool and opportunity to give back since I’m not in the service. I get to bring a little piece of home to our soldiers and then send a little piece of them over the air to their families back at home.”

The duo will also “sit down with soldiers who are currently serving in Afghanistan to talk about life on duty as well as send personal sentiments to family and friends back home in Texas.”

Early Friday, KONO 860 AM — which, for 20 years previously, was a simulcast of greatest hits music station KONO 101.1 FM — was re-launched as CBS Sports Radio 860m according to mysa.com.

S.A. listeners now will hear up-to-the-minute sports news and popular CBS talk shows on the Cox Media Group-owned station.

“It’s a great move for us. . .to bring this level of quality sports programming to San Antonio,” Cox’s San Antonio vice president/market manager Dan Lawrie said Friday.

“Additionally,” Lawrie added, “South Texas sports fans should be glad to welcome the return of Jim Rome after a two-year absence in the market.” Rome’s show now airs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on KONO 860.

Lawrie said the new sports outlet also intends to carry the San Antonio Missions, University of the Incarnate Word football and local high school games.

KONO-AM joins three other local sports stations: the veteran of this market, KTKR-AM, known as “Ticket 760″; ESPN affiliate KZDC-AM (1250); and in the Spanish-language arena, KSAH-AM (720), “ESPN Deportes.”

Lawrie said that KONO 860 has no plans to launch a local sports talk show.

As for KONO-FM, it remains a music outlet. The high-rated station will continue its long tradition of carrying greatest hits from the past several decades.

A former newspaper features writer Tiffany Bentley is the new morning-drive personality for an alternative radio station in Buffalo, according tolehighvalleylive.com.

Bentley has spend the past many months reporting on music in New York City for 33 Universal and Metal Insider, Entercom Buffalo, owner of WLKK 107.7 FM.

A graduate of the University at Albany who earned a masters degree from The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, Bentley, who will use her last name on the air, starts her new job Monday.

“We were looking for a special talent to fill the morning drive spot on a special station and we found that person in Bentley,” Alt Buffalo program director Nik Rivers said Thursday.

“Our search was extensive, nationwide and included many talented candidates. As we went through the process Bentley distinguished herself with her on-air personality, her professionalism and her journalistic background. She has an extreme passion for the music we play, and she will be a perfect fit for Alternative Buffalo and its listeners.”

WLKK 107.7 FM (19.5Kw) 54dBu Coverage

Bentley said she is thrilled to be back on the air. She previously had on-air jobs at non-com WDIY 88.1 FM in the Lehigh Valley, hosting the Blend on SiriusXM on Thursdays, and WTKK 99.5. FM K-Rock in Syracuse.

“After living in New York City, and being part of such a rich music scene, I am so excited to return to upstate New York,” Bentley, who grew up in that part of the state, said in the release. “I am looking forward to becoming part of such a forward thinking music Family at Alternative Buffalo.”

Bentley, who started at The Express-Times in the Lehigh Vally, PA as an online intern and worked herself from freelance, to a part-time position and into a full-time job, covered the music scene in the Lehigh Valley and northwest New Jersey.

Public Policy Polling's 5th annual poll about trust in TV news continues to find what it does every year: Fox News is both the most trusted and least trusted name in news.

35% of Americans say they trust Fox News more than any other TV news outlet, followed by 14% for PBS, 11% for ABC, 10% for CNN, 9% for CBS, 6% each for Comedy Central and MSNBC, and 3% for NBC. It leads the way because of its continuing near total support among Republicans as the place to go for news- 69% of Republicans say it's their most trusted source with nothing else polling above 7%.

Meanwhile Democrats are split between a lot of different outlets when it comes to who they have the most faith in: PBS at 21%, CNN and ABC at 18%, and CBS and MSNBC at 12% all poll in double digits. It's interesting that while Fox News and MSNBC are often thought of as equivalent, Fox News is by far and away the most trusted source of GOP voters while MSNBC is only tied for 4th among Democrats.

Fox News also leads the 'least trusted' list in the annual poll. 33% give it that designation to 19% for MSNBC, 14% for Comedy Central, 11% for CNN, 5% for ABC, 4% for CBS, and 2% each for NBC and PBS.

That's largely because 57% of Democrats give it their least trusted designation, with only Comedy Central at 18% also hitting double digits with them. MSNBC leads the way among Republicans at 38%, but CNN at 17% and Comedy Central at 13% both hit double digits as well. It's interesting to note that Republicans seem to hate MSNBC more than Democrats like it.

When you look at the 8 outlets tested individually, only one is clearly trusted by a majority of Americans. That's PBS, which 57% say they trust to 24% who don't. Most Democrats (80/6) and independents (49/31) trust it and it at least gets an even split with Republicans at 38%.

The two outlets that poll the lowest on trust are Comedy Central (29/38) and MSNBC (34/44). In both of their cases the share of Republicans trusting them drops down to about 10%, even as a majority of Democrats still express faith in them.

The Naples-based Beasley Broadcast Group Inc. today reported net income of $3.6 million, or 16 cents a share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31, even with the income reported in the same period a year ago.

The company reported net revenue from advertising was down slightly in the quarter due to higher political advertising revenue a year ago.

For the year, Beasley reported net income of $11.5 million, or 51 cents a share, up from $11 million, or 48 cents a share, in the previous year.

Commenting on the results, George G. Beasley, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "Beasley Broadcast Group's fourth quarter net revenue decline primarily reflects a reduction in political spending as in the fourth quarter of 2012 we recorded approximately $1.2 million in political advertising revenue. While we were not able to fully offset the cyclical impact of political revenue, the fourth quarter radio advertising environment in our markets remains healthy and on an actual basis we reported just a slight decline in net revenue compared with last year. Excluding the benefit of political advertising in the year-ago quarter, Beasley Broadcast Group's 2013 fourth quarter same station net revenue rose approximately 2% and, reflecting our success throughout 2013, actual full year net revenue rose 4.7% while same station net revenue for 2013 was up 1.9% versus full year 2012.

"Overall, for our five markets that report to Miller Kaplan - which represent approximately 76% of total fourth quarter revenue - Beasley station cluster revenue declined by 2.6%, which again was primarily attributable to the cyclical nature of political advertising, while the total revenue for all reporting radio stations in these markets decreased by 4.1% for the quarter. Beasley Broadcast Group's out-performance relative to our markets again highlights the benefit of our organization-wide focus on strong core programming and targeted localism. Our planned investments in sales and programming and the expansion of our digital offerings, combined with the revenue decline, led to fourth quarter 2013 SOI which was 5.2% below year-ago levels.

A College of Charleston, SC student told WBTV News he "would do it again" after he ran into a live shot with The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore, who delivered a knee into the college student's stomach Tuesday night.

"We had spoken to [Jim Cantore] earlier in the day, and got a photo with him," said CofC student Colin Marcelli."We went back again later, and then I got on TV and now everyone loves it."

A YouTube video shows Cantore doing a 5 o'clock hit for the Weather Channel from the College of Charleston campus Tuesday evening. New video released on Tuesday shows Marcelli talking into a friend's camera saying,"Jim Cantore, whatcha know about this," before rushing the meteorologist.

"He probably thought that I was going to tackle him or something, but I was really just trying to run into the frame," Marcelli says.

Without missing a beat, Cantore delivered a knee to the kid's stomach and continued on with his live shot.

The top secret project that reunited Jerry Seinfeld and Jason Alexander at Tom's Diner earlier this month is close to being released. The comedian teased the mysterious work during an appearance on the Boomer & Carlon radio show on WFAN 660am / 101.9 FM in New York.

When asked if the shoot was part of Super Bowl commercial or an episode of his web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Jerry responded, "It's neither. But it is not not those things either. It's a secret project." After the hosts grilled Seinfeld for more info, he added, "I've gave you more now than I've given anyone. I told you what it isn't, and then I told you that it isn't not that either." He also revealed that there are other Seinfeld characters involved and described the project as "short-ish form" which is coming out "very, very soon."

While talk radio hosts have always been cordial to each other, they’ve also been fiercely competitive in a quest to become as successful as possible. But according to glennbeck.com, some of that competition has faded, and conservative radio’s most powerful voices are now coming to together to help get this country back on track.

On radio Thursday morning, Glenn opened up about his renewed relationship with some of the most prolific talk show hosts in America today.

Beck revealed the “foolish” feud with fellow conservative talkers Sean Hannity and Mark Levin and announced that the hosts were fed “lies” about one another by an unnamed “individual” in order to keep the tea party movement fractured. Now, Beck says, the conservative trio are prepared to “move together.”

Listeners have abandoned CFNY 102.1 FM The Edge since the station fired morning show host Dean Blundell for making questionable on-air comments, according to numbers being circulated by a PR firm with apparent ties to the ex-personality.

According to the nationalpost.com, since Blundell’s show was officially cancelled on Jan. 6, the Edge’s share of male 18- to 49-year-old listeners has dropped 50% for mornings, as per ratings data forwarded to local media by Toronto-based public affairs company Devon Group. While the show once garnered a 12% share of listeners, the numbers indicate that the share is down to 6%.

Thx for all your kinds words all. This is where you can get me for now with an Official statement and more to come. http://t.co/EpiKDXqcS3
— Dean Blundell (@ItsDeanBlundell) January 10, 2014

The Edge is yet to replace the Dean Blundell Show. Since Jan. 14, the hours that were normally filled with Mr. Blundell’s talk show now contain music-intensive hosted by “Fearless Fred” Kennedy, and the station is actively seeking a permanent replacement.

Renowned TV and radio host Larry King talks about his new gig at the Friars Club, and his Ora TV shows, "Larry King Now," and "Politicking With Larry King." He also weighs in on the state of journalism today and the controversies rocking the world.

CCM+E's Country WACO 99.9 FM (100) in Waco, TX continues its market-topping ratings dominance, but clustermate rock KBRQ 102.5 FM The Bear leapfrogged remaining stations for second place in fall NielsenAudio radio ratings, according to wacotrib.com.

WACO maintained its remarkable streak of winning 39 consecutive ratings books with a 11.5 share in the broad demographic category of listeners ages 12 and older, but the fall book surprise came in KBRQ’s second place with a 9.5 share, its highest fall rating in years, edging out last fall’s No. 2, classic hits KBGO, with a 9.1 share.

KBRQ 99.9 FM (100kw) 60dBu Coverage

KBRQ Program Director Brent Henslee said his station had been finetuning its music mix over the last few years, aiming for a blend of hard rock, classic rock and alt-rock for local ears. The fall rating book showed the fruit of that effort, he said.

“It’s been snowballing for awhile. . . . We typically do stronger in the spring than fall, but we finally got the big fall book,” he said.

In 1936...the "The Green Hornet" debuted on WXYZ Radio, the same local Detroit station that originated its companion shows The Lone Ranger and Challenge of the Yukon. Beginning on April 12, 1938, the station supplied the series to the Mutual Broadcasting System radio network, and then to NBC Blue and its successors, the Blue Network and ABC, from November 16, 1939, through September 8, 1950. It returned from September 10 to December 5, 1952. It was sponsored by General Mills from January to August 1948, and by Orange Crush in its brief 1952 run.

Major Armstrong

In 1954...Major Edwin Armstrong - founder of FM radio - died from an apparent suicide. He has been called "the most prolific and influential inventor in radio history". He invented the regenerative circuit while he was an undergraduate and patented it in 1914, followed by the super-regenerative circuit in 1922, and the superheterodyne receiver in 1918. Armstrong was also the inventor of modern frequency modulation (FM) radio transmission.

Armstrong was born in New York City in 1890. He studied at Columbia University. During his third year at Columbia, Armstrong came up with his first major invention: the first radio amplifier. He had learned how Lee DeForest's radio tube worked, then he redesigned it by taking the electromagnetic waves that came from a radio transmission and repeatedly feeding the signal back through the tube. Each time, the signal's power would increase as much as 20,000 times a second.

This phenomenon, which Armstrong called "regeneration," was an extremely important discovery in the early days of radio. With this development, radio engineers no longer needed 20-ton generators to get their stations on the air. Armstrong's single-circuit design provided the key to the continuous-wave transmitter that is at the core of radio operations today. He graduated with his B.S. in engineering in 1913. He patented his creation and licensed it to the Marconi corporation, in 1914.

Soon after graduation, Armstrong was sent to Paris to serve in World War I. There he came up with his second major invention, the superheterodyne receiver, after he had been put on a project to improve ability to intercept shortwave enemy communications. The superheterodyne receiver is still part of virtually every tuner in today's radios, televisions and radars.

In 1920, Westinghouse bought Armstrong's patent for the superheterodyne receiver, and started up the nation's first radio station, KDKA, in Pittsburgh.

Radio became very popular at about this time, and more and more stations came to the airwaves. The Radio Corporation of America, or RCA soon bought up all of Westinghouse's radio patents, as well as the patents of other competitors.

By then, Armstrong was back at Columbia University working as a professor. In 1923 he married Marion MacInnes, secretary to the president of RCA, David Sarnoff. Later that decade he became embroiled in a corporate war for control of radio patents. This continued through the early part of the 1930s, and Armstrong was unsuccessful in most of his court battles. Meanwhile, however, he pursued a solution to the problem of static in radio. By the late 1920's he had decided the only solution was to design an entirely new system. In 1933 he presented the wide-band frequency modulation (FM) system, which gave clear reception even in storms and offered the highest fidelity sound yet heard in radio. The system also allowed for a single carrier wave to transmit two radio programs at once. This development was called "multiplexing."

In 1940 Armstrong got a permit for the first FM station, which he established in Alpine, New Jersey. In 1941 the Franklin Institute awarded Armstrong the Franklin Medal, one of the science community's highest honors.

Armstrong went on to prove that FM was capable of dual-channel transmissions, allowing for stereo sound. This capability of FM could also be used to send two separate non-stereo programs, or a facsimile and telegraph message simultaneously in a process called multiplexing. He even successfully bounced a FM signal off the moon, something not possible with AM signals.

According todamninteresting.com, AM radio was big business in the pre-television days, and there were powerful people who wanted things to stay as they were. Innovation only meant smaller profits for them. At that time there was no more influential man in radio media than the founder of RCA, David Sarnoff. Known as "The General," Sarnoff controlled all the technical aspects of radio; he also created the NBC and ABC television networks. He was also an important early supporter of television and developed the current NTSC standard for TV that we have used for over 60 years.

Regenerative Circuit 1912

Seeking to kill FM radio before it could threaten his profits, Sarnoff's company successfully lobbied the FCC to have the FM spectrum moved from Armstrong’s frequencies to the ones we use today: 88 to 108 MHz. The FCC ruling said that the 40 MHz band was to be used for the new television broadcasts, in which RCA had a heavy stake. RCA also had an ally in AT&T, which actively supported the frequency move because the loss of FM relaying stations forced Armstrong's Yankee Network stations to buy wired links from AT&T. The deck was stacked against the future of FM broadcasting.

Matters became worse when Armstrong became entangled in a new patent suit with RCA and NBC, who were using FM technology without paying royalties. The cost of the new legal battle compounded the financial burden that the problems with the Yankee Network had caused. His health and temperament deteriorated as the FM lawsuit dominated his life. His wife of thirty-one years, unable to cope with his worsening personality and financial strain, left him in November of 1953. RCA's greater financial resources crushed Armstrong's legal defences, and he was left penniless, alone, and distraught.

On February 1, 1954, Armstrong's body was discovered on the roof of a three-story wing of his apartment building. In despair, he had thrown himself out the window of his thirteenth-floor New York City apartment sometime during the night. He died believing he was a failure, and that FM radio would never become accepted. Through the years Armstrong’s widow would bring twenty-one patent infringement suits against many companies, including RCA. She eventually won a little over $10 million in damages. But it would take further decades for FM radio to reach its potential.

Following Armstrong’s death, television’s emerging popularity ended radio’s golden years. Slowly, listeners learned that FM radio was clearly better for musical high fidelity than AM broadcasts. Radios started to have an FM band included with the AM band in the late 1950s and 1960s. By the 1970s, FM audience size surpassed that of AM, and the gap has been growing ever since.

He held 42 patents and received numerous awards, including the first Institute of Radio Engineers now IEEE Medal of Honor, the French Legion of Honor, the 1941 Franklin Medal and the 1942 Edison Medal. He is a member of the National Inventors Hall.

This is an audio recording of the March 6, 1954 final broadcast of Major Edwin Armstrong's experimental FM station at Alpine, NJ. This broadcast came a month after the inventor of FM radio jumped to his death.

The audio track is accompanied by historical photos and footage

In 1958...U.S. launches its first satellite, Explorer I

In 2000...Peter Tripp, who wowed radio audiences with his mid-1950s Top-40 countdown record shows on WHB in Kansas City, and later at New York City's WMGM 1050 AM, died January 31, 2000, at Northridge California Hospital, following an apparent stroke suffered at his home in West Hills, California.

Tripp became one of the nation's best known Top-40 countdown radio personalities beginning in 1954 at Todd Storz' WHB in Kansas City, and at Loew's Theatres' WMGM in New York City from 1955 through 1960 with his "Your Hits Of The Week" program.

Billing himself as "The curly-headed kid in the third row", Tripp is best remembered for the WMGM promotion where he remained awake for 201 hours during a sleep deprivation stunt benefitting the March Of Dimes.

In 2013…Former radio talk show host (KSFO-San Francisco, KIRO-Seattle, WIND-Chicago) Lee Rodgers died during heart surgery at age 76.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

MLB Brewers Hall of Fame radio voice Bob Uecker said on Newsradio WTMJ 620 AM Thursday morning that he will be cutting back on some of his road broadcasts during the 2014 season.

According to jsonline.com, Uecker, who insisted he turned 80 last Sunday, not 79 as listed (he said his listed birth year of 1935 was wrong), has been doing radio broadcasts for the Brewers since 1971. He had some medical setbacks in recent years, including heart surgery, but never suggested he would cut back his schedule since now.

Uecker told Gene Mueller and Greg Matzek on WTMJ that he had been encouraged by owner Mark Attanasio and others to cut back a bit on his workload but had declined to do so until now. He wasn't specific about how many games he will cut back and there was no talk about who would fill in for him to do radio broadcasts with Joe Block.

Uecker faced a serious health issue in April 2010 when he announced he was going to miss 10–12 weeks of the season because of heart surgery. His aortic valve and a portion of his aortic root were successfully replaced and he returned to the radio booth in late July. In October, he was forced to undergo more heart surgery because of a tear at the site of the valve replacement.

Since then, Uecker has been in relatively good health. The work schedule is tough, however, especially for someone who has been doing it as long as he has.

Uecker was unducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in 2003 as the winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for a distinguished career in broadcasting.

Just in time for the big game, Nielsen took a look at the connection that fans have on the local level with their NFL football teams and the broadcasters through the lens of its Portable People Meter (PPM) data for February 3 last year, according to Radioonline.

Nielsen found an interesting phenomenon that occurs each year in the hometowns of the two participating Super Bowl teams: the local radio audience tends to spike at different times than TV viewership does, specifically just before kickoff and immediately after the game ends.

In reviewing the data from last year's Super Bowl XLVII, Ravens and 49ers fans really wanted to hear the perspectives of their local radio sportscasters and personalities in the moments leading up to the game, and then afterward to either commiserate the loss or celebrate the win with the same hosts they're accustomed to hearing week in and week out.

In Baltimore, starting around 5pm, or 90 minutes before kickoff, the radio audience to the flagship station broadcasting the game more than tripled (a 255% increase), while the main sports station's audience across town jumped 62 percent. Then, as soon as the game ended, the radio audiences spiked again: 326 percent for the flagship station and 65 percent for the sports station.

On the other side of the country in the bay area, the main sports station in San Francisco that was carrying the game followed a similar pattern: the audience grew by 55 percent for kickoff and 68 percent after the game concluded.

Gracenote, the leader in music and video recognition and discovery technology, announced that it will incorporate Next Big Sound’s real-time music consumption and trending data into its new Gracenote Rhythm music Discovery and Internet Radio platform. Combined with Gracenote’s own metadata, editorial expertise and powerful algorithms, Next Big Sound’s data will help Gracenote identify and spotlight popular and emerging artists within its products across all genres.

Next Big Sound’s data will be paired with Gracenote’s music recognition insights, gleaned from more than 600 million daily searches of the Gracenote database, creating one of the best sources of music discovery. When layered into Gracenote’s Rhythm Discovery platform, Next Big Sound will help Gracenote’s customers create music services that deliver highly personalized recommendations with the right blend of music from existing catalogs and hot, new emerging artists on the verge of “breaking out.”

Stephen White

“With Next Big Sound, we are taking a wider view of the music world to better understand what is happening in music right now and then applying those insights to track-level music recommendations for our customers,” said Stephen White, president of Gracenote. “We now have the right blend of Gracenote trend data, broader industry analytics and play data to build out the most robust and accurate Recommendation and Discovery platform available on the market today.”

Next Big Sound has collected more than four years of public social data, from sources such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, for almost every artist in the world. This data is correlated with marketing activities and sales/streaming numbers for more than 70 percent of recorded music across labels, artist managers, publishers, agents and major technology leaders. For Next Big Sound, the relationship with Gracenote will drive new applications of its data analytics in conjunction with Gracenote’s new Internet Radio API to serve up music recommendations for online music listeners around the world.

Alex White

“Our popularity and trending data has grown to become the definitive source of predicting breakout artists and sounds across the music industry,” said Alex White, CEO and co-founder of Next Big Sound. “Gracenote has a long, storied history of making data useful for the entertainment industry and is a company we’ve long admired and respected. Today, I’m excited to see the marriage of Gracenote’s rich data and products with our strategic insights as our first endeavor in fueling discovery and driving recommendations for music streaming services.”

Next Big Sound will also aid Gracenote in identifying trending artists and tracks in real-time to improve how Gracenote’s global team of music experts prioritizes new and emerging artists into its music database. This will drive faster and broader visibility of new and emerging artists from around the world through Gracenote’s platform.

The Gracenote Rhythm Internet Radio API will be made available to commercial customers and developers in February 2014.

Justin Bieber was charged Wednesday with assaulting a limousine driver in Toronto a month ago, according to CNN.

Bieber arrived at a Toronto police station for booking Wednesday evening amid a chaotic scene as determined photographers, reporters, screaming fans and the curious converged around his SUV. About a dozen Toronto police officers shoved their way through the crowd to escort Bieber, getting him through the door only after a struggle.

The alleged incident happened after the limo driver picked up a group of six people outside a Toronto nightclub just before 3 a.m. on December 30, according to a police statement.

"While driving the group to a hotel, an altercation occurred between one of the passengers and the driver of the limousine," the police statement said. "In the course of the altercation, a man struck the limousine driver on the back of the head several times. The driver stopped the limousine, exited the vehicle and called police."
Bieber left the Toronto police station Wednesday night, according to a reporter for CTV.

The singer attended a Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game at the Air Canada Centre earlier in the evening, according to the CBC.

This map featured on the Facebook page “SnowedOutAtlanta” uses crowdsourcing — soliciting aid from a large source of people, particularly those online — to match motorists stranded in the snow storm with good Samaritans willing to help or offer shelter

As Winter Storm “Leon” 2014 worsened Tuesday evening, a Marietta woman reached out over the social media vines to help stranded motorists, and enable others to help.

The Super Bowl is coming up, and WestwoodOne is joining forces with Horizon Media to connect with fans ahead of the big game, according to Media Daily News.

The weeklong program, “7 Days to Sunday,” kicked off on Monday, January 27 and is scheduled to run through Sunday, February 2, with events around New York City and the tri-state area.

Horizon and WestwoodOne, the official network radio partner for the National Football League and exclusive national radio home for Super Bowl XLVIII, are touring the New York metro area with “Football Fan Machines” buses. They connect listeners and fans to NFL personalities, as well as customized audio content and various brand and social-media activations tied into the country’s biggest sporting event.

One of the vehicles includes a VIP lounge and a glass-walled mobile studio (featured in the video for Maroon 5’s “Never Gonna Leave This Bed”) that allows bystanders to see inside the radio studio. Fans who visit the buses can engage with NFL personalities, sample Horizon brand products, and maybe even get on air.

The Super Bowl ads will be more grown-up this year, moving away from just sex, slapstick and gimmicks, according to AP, which cites brand strategy professor Kelly O'Keefe as saying, "We're seeing sophistication come to the Super Bowl. Not long ago, almost everything seemed to be about beer or bros or boobs." \

Experts say that companies looking to get the most out of the $4 million they're spending on a 30-second Super Bowl ad are trying to build their image instead of just grabbing the attention of viewers who've grown bored with obvious shock tactics.

Godaddy.com, which is known for its using sex in its Super Bowl spots, but got a big dislike from America last year for its super-model-kissing-a-nerd commercial, is going in another direction this year, with chief marketing officer Barb Rechterman saying its focusing on its products, and that woman are being portrayed as, quote, "smart, successful small business owners."

One ad, which was released last week, shows racecar driver Danica Patrick wearing a muscle suit as she runs down the street, joined by a growing group of other muscular people, as they all head for a spray tanning business owned by a woman who says, "It's go time" as she holds up the spray tan gun.

Axe body spray is also moving away from the sex, releasing the Super Bowl ad for its new fragrance, called Peace, that shows militaristic scenes in different countries that end up with couples embracing.

Another commercial featuring a puppy also has generated som controversy. Here's a Cheerios ad featuring the same interracial family seen in an early ad that drew racist criticism, and then a huge backlash in support of the ad:

Gary L. Gauthier, the former host of a Saturday morning Christian radio show called “It’s God’s Money,” is one of two men arrested this month in a Ponzi scheme that defrauded 38 people in the Tampa Bay area of $6 million, according to tbo.com.

Gauthier, 64, who now lives in Okemos, Mich., was arrested last week in Tampa, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. David George Dreslin, 54, of Seminole, was arrested earlier in the month, the FDLE reported.

The two are charged with one count of racketeering, one count of conspiring to engage in a pattern of racketeering activity, two counts of organized fraud, six counts of the sale of an unregistered security, six counts of the sale of a security by an unregistered dealer and two counts of security fraud.

Dreslin attracted people through his accounting practice, and Gauthier’s victims were the listeners of his Tampa radio shows, “It’s God’s Money” and “It’s All About Florida Real Estate,” the documents say.

They were, for a time, broadcast on Tampa radio station WTBN 570 AM and WGUL 860 AM, both owned by Salem Communications. General manager Barbara Yoder didn’t return a telephone call Wednesday for comment.

“A majority of the victims stated they relied upon the statements made by Gauthier because they were made on a Christian radio station,” according to the document charging the pair.

“Most of the victims were elderly, ... over the age of 60,” the document says.

She was named Black Radio's Music Director of the Year in 1992. Billboard Magazine also nominated her as music director of the year.

Hall earned a bachelor of arts in communication from Howard University, where she graduated with honors. She went into radio as an undergraduate and worked at the campus radio station, WHBC-AM, and was the assistant music director at WHUR-FM.

Family members said she lived in New York City while in her 20s and was music director at WBLS-FM, part of Inner City Broadcasting.

She was later a promotions representative for Prelude Records and was then a regional promotions manager and artists and repertoire representative at Arista Records, also in New York.

In 1933..."The Lone Ranger" debuted on WXYZ radio in Detroit. The program ran for 2,956 episodes and finished in 1955. The show was an immediate success. Though it was aimed at children, adults made up at least half the audience. It became so popular, it was picked up by the Mutual Broadcasting System radio network, and on May 2, 1942 by NBC's Blue Network, which in time became ABC. The last new episode was broadcast September 3, 1954. Recorded repeats of the 1952–53 episodes continued to be aired on ABC until June 24, 1955.

In 1969...On the roof of their own Apple Studios in London, the Beatles gave their last public live performance. They performed "Get Back" (take 1), "Get Back" (take 2), "Don't Let Me Down" (take 1), "I've Got A Feeling" (take 1), "One After 909," "Dig A Pony," "I've Got A Feeling" (take 2), "Don't Let Me Down" (take 2), "Get Back" (take 3). The concert came to an abrupt end after 42 minutes when police shut it down in response to the complaints of a nearby shop owner.

In 1978...The Mutual Broadcasting System began airing Larry King's overnight radio talk show.

In 1999...Announcer (Universal newsreels, Your Show of Shows, The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour, Kraft Television Theater, As the World Turns, All My Children, the commercial voice of Kraft Foods for more than 40 years) Ed Herlihy died at age 89. Ed Herlihy also hosted the WNBC radio program "Honeymoon in New York"

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

CCM+E/Seattle has announced that Kent Haehl has been named Market President.

The new position is effective immediately.

Haehl will report to Hartley Adkins, Executive Vice President of Operations, Clear Channel Media and Entertainment.

"We are fortunate to bring someone onto our team who has such an expansive leadership and experience base," said Adkins. "Kent's extensive knowledge of television, media and the industry as a whole will immediately bring additional value to our advertisers and listeners as we continue to provide a greater reach than any other media outlet in Seattle."

As Market President, Haehl will leverage Clear Channel Seattle's assets including its brands and audience to generate new revenue while providing quality programming. He will oversee the market's overall operations including all station activities and events to help drive sales and achieve revenue targets.

Haehl joins CC/Seattle from NYC, where is most recently was CEO of Channel One Network.

He bring with him with more than 25 years of experience in the media industry, but no real radio experience. He replaces Lisa Decker, who departs with 19 years experience in the Seattle radio market.

"I feel extremely grateful to begin working with such a talented team of professionals at Clear Channel Seattle," said Haehl. "I'm looking forward to leading the market to continued success and to unlocking the full potential of our brands in one of America's greatest cities."

His previous experience also includes senior sales and marketing roles at In-Store Broadcasting Network and Meredith Broadcasting Group/Meredith Corporation.

Tyler begins his new duties effective February 17th. He previously was VP/Programming for CCM+E/Providence and PD for Rock WHJY.

“We looked high and low for just the right programmer to lead these two heritage brands in Cleveland and found him right in our own company,” said CCM+E/Cleveland VP/Programming Keith Abrams. "Chris brings a unique mix of success in the formats, a history with big-time talent, and a huge passion to win to our cluster. We could not be more excited to have him join the team!”

WMMS 100.7 FM 54dBu Coverage

“I’m beyond thrilled to join the amazing people in our Cleveland cluster,” said Tyler. "Programming such legendary stations as WMMS and 96.5 KISS-FM is an opportunity I welcome with open arms. Plus, it’s not every day you get the chance to work with killer talents like Rover and Alan Cox. Thanks to Tom McConnell, Gene Romano, Gary Mincer and Keith Abrams for their enormous support during this process.”